IBPS PO syllabus and exam pattern (Prelims, Mains and Interview)
IBPS PO recruits Probationary Officers and Management Trainees for public sector banks through a three-stage process. This detailed guide breaks down the prelims and mains pattern, sectional timing, every syllabus topic, the descriptive paper and the interview, with a practical preparation checklist.
IBPS PO exam pattern at a glance
| Paper / stage | What it covers | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prelims | English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning Ability — each with its own sectional time limit. Qualifying; 0.25 negative marking per wrong answer. | 100 questions / 100 marks | 60 minutes |
| Mains — Objective | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, General/Economy/Banking Awareness, English Language. Sectional timing and 0.25 negative marking. | 200 marks | About 3 hours |
| Mains — Descriptive | English letter writing and essay, typed on the computer, taken immediately after the objective paper. | 25 marks | 30 minutes |
| Interview | Final merit combines Mains and Interview, typically in an 80:20 ratio. | 100 marks | — |
Section-wise questions, timings and weightage can change between cycles. Confirm them from the latest official IBPS PO notification.
Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude
Puzzles and seating arrangement (linear, circular, square, floor and box, month/day based) — the largest chunk at both prelims and mains.
Syllogism, inequalities, coding-decoding (new pattern), blood relations, direction sense, order and ranking, input-output, data sufficiency, logical reasoning (assumptions, arguments, course of action).
Computer aptitude in mains: computer fundamentals, networking, internet, MS Office, DBMS basics, cyber security and shortcut keys.
Quantitative Aptitude / Data Analysis & Interpretation
Simplification and approximation, number series (missing and wrong), quadratic equations and quantity comparison.
Data interpretation: tables, bar, line, pie and radar charts, caselets and missing-data DI — at mains, DI dominates the paper.
Arithmetic: percentage, ratio, average, profit and loss, SI and CI, time and work, speed-distance, mixtures, partnership, probability, permutation-combination and mensuration.
English Language
Reading comprehension (economy, banking and editorial themes), cloze test, error detection, sentence improvement, para jumbles, word swap and fillers.
Mains adds connectors, odd sentence out and paragraph completion. Read one financial newspaper editorial daily.
General, Economy & Banking Awareness (Mains)
Current affairs of the last 6 months, with focus on banking and finance news, RBI monetary policy, repo and reverse repo rates, CRR and SLR.
Banking terms and history, NPA norms, Basel norms, financial inclusion schemes, regulators (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, NABARD) and the Union Budget and Economic Survey.
Static awareness: headquarters, taglines and heads of banks and organisations, important days and international bodies.
Descriptive paper and interview
Practise formal and informal letters (complaint to a bank manager, request letters) and essays on banking, digital payments, economy and social issues. Aim for clear structure, 250 words, and correct grammar.
The interview tests banking awareness, your graduation subject, current economic news and why you chose banking. Prepare a crisp self-introduction.
IBPS PO preparation checklist
- Confirm sections, question counts, timings and cut-off rules in the latest official IBPS PO notification at ibps.in
- Practise one puzzle set and one DI set every day
- Clear sectional cut-offs — a high overall score with one weak section still fails
- Make a monthly banking & economy current-affairs note for mains
- Type one letter and one essay a week for the descriptive paper
- Take full-length prelims and mains mocks and track section-wise accuracy
Test yourself on the bank PO pattern
Attempt banking mock tests on क्रांति with sectional timing, topic-level accuracy and a rank against other aspirants.